


Deafening Silence

by crassjellyfish



Category: The Mechanisms (Band)
Genre: Comfort, Doctor Carmilla, Multi, Nightmares, Poly Mechs - Freeform, ashes o'reilly - Freeform, drumbot brian - Freeform, ivy alexandria - Freeform, marius von raum - Freeform, raphaella la cognizi - Freeform, super vague mention of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-13
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:21:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25875805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crassjellyfish/pseuds/crassjellyfish
Summary: The Aurora was quiet.That was the first clue that something was wrong. Nastya’s cybernetics were in tune with every system onboard, so even on the off chance everyone was quiet, she would still feel the vibrations of their feet, hear their breathing, know their presence. Aurora herself made noise, too. Quiet whirring, the settling of metal, her gentle noises that let Nastya know she was there. Even when her crew was gone, there was something. But this, this was wrong, so wrong. It felt dead. It felt empty. It feltalone
Relationships: Gunpowder Tim/Nastya Rasputina, The Aurora/Nastya Rasputina
Comments: 8
Kudos: 47





	Deafening Silence

**Author's Note:**

> hello i've never posted mechs fic before. i wrote this in like an hour, it has not been beta'd or edited in any way shape or form so i'm so sorry if something is wrong, i'll edit it when it's not one am. anyways! there is a very upsetting lack of poly mechs that includes nastya and aurora, and i am going to start rectifying that myself if i have to. tim/nastya is a good ship! let them love each other. this actually ended up less shippy and more a character study i guess? i think nastya has a lot of nightmares about losing the family she's built. i'm done rambling for now, i hope you enjoy this fic!

_The Aurora was quiet._ That was the first clue that something was wrong. Nastya’s cybernetics were in tune with every system onboard, so even on the off chance everyone _was_ quiet, she would still feel the vibrations of their feet, hear their breathing, know their presence. Aurora herself made noise, too. Quiet whirring, the settling of metal, her gentle noises that let Nastya know she was there. Even when her crew was gone, there was something. But this, _this_ was wrong, so wrong. It felt dead. It felt empty. It felt _alone._

The sense of unease grew in her stomach as she walked down the halls she knew so well. She knew she was in Corridor 173A, which would come up to junction with Corridor 29J and 428C in about forty feet, and there would be a loose panel at the bottom of the wall on the right side that she sometimes used to access the ducts from this side of the ship. Except, as she walked forward another fifty, sixty, a hundred feet it became clear; there was no junction in sight. All of the wall panelling looked perfectly in place, not a dent nor scratch nor laser bolt scar in sight. But there wasn’t a single panel on her ship that didn’t show some sign of its years. 

Nastya knew every inch of Aurora inside and out, and she knew this was wrong. Her speed picked up from a curious walk to a slow jog to a full sprint, and she had a horrifying realization. She had no clue where she was. She knew this was The Aurora, though she didn’t know how she knew. But she didn’t recognize a single bolt around her. The lights were the wrong color, the halls were wrong, the screws in the panels weren’t the right material. As she ran, she called out. She cried out and shouted, looking for anyone, any of her family. She called for Jonny, for Tim and Raphaella, even for the Toy Soldier. Her voice cracked as she screamed for anyone who would hear her, her throat growing raw and her legs growing tired as she ran and ran in this mockery of her love. _This is hell,_ she thought. _She found me again and built me hell._

She turned down another corridor, no clue where she was or where she was going. The end of the hallway changed in front of her, shifting from the too-bright fluorescents on too-white panelling. It got dark, so dark. She couldn’t see anything, she couldn’t hear anything but a ringing, a hellish ringing. Something was holding her, trapping her and _she had to get out she had to get away._

So she did. She bolted up (when had she laid down?) and got out of the room as fast as she could. As the door slid shut behind her, Nastya didn’t slow down. Her eyes were barely open, trying to avoid seeing the cheap imitation of the ship she loved so much. She kept running and running, trying to get away, to get out, to-

Nastya was pulled from her spiraling thoughts by a very sudden impact. She ran into something, something that was wrapping its arms around her, something that was petting her hair, something that was soothing her and keeping her from pulling away.  
As whatever she ran into held her, she started to calm down. Her breathing slowed, the ringing in her ears lessened, and she opened her eyes to see that she was pressed up against a tattered old shirt covered in oil stains and possibly blood? 

Tim held her close as she came back to herself, eventually loosening his arms slightly after she relaxed and wrapped hers around him. Nastya held him tight, listening to his steady heartbeat and his quiet humming. She was awake now, properly awake, and was piecing together what just happened. After a while, she pulled back and looked around the hallway. Corridor 830M, with its seven bullet-riddled panels she never felt like replacing after the last gunfight the crew had (there was a disagreement over who’s turn it was to feed the moonbeast they kept in the brig.) The lights were soft, a nice yellow, and Nastya could hear Aurora hum with concern around her. She laid her hand on the nearest wall and leaned in to kiss it. Her love whirred as she did, and she apologized for scaring her. She leaned back into Tim, and apologized to him too.

“I’m sorry,” she started, voice heavy with her accent as well as sleep. “It was just a nightmare, I’m sorry.”

Over her, Tim shook his head, then kissed the top of hers. “No need to say sorry. We all know how it can be. Do you want to talk about it?” He started walking her backwards, and she knew they were heading for one of the spare rooms, the nearest bed to lie down. Nastya pulled away slightly, holding onto his side but letting him walk without her as an obstacle. She shook her head as she did. 

“No. Just, don’t ever let me use fluorescents in Aurora, okay?”

Tim chuckled as he walked through the already open door of the room, sitting down on the bed and pulling Nastya down with him. “I wouldn’t dream of it. Don’t think my eyes could handle that, truth be told. You’d gotta get rid of me first.” He tucked her into the bed, pulling blankets up around her, the chill already making her shiver. Tim laid beside her, holding her against him, their breathing evening out and matching tempo. 

Neither of them slept that night, but that they didn’t care. Nothing else mattered. Her family was nearby. She could hear Jonny falling back asleep on deck two, Aurora having updated him on what happened after Nastya jumped from his arms and ran from his room. She could hear Ivy, Marius, and Raphaella, all asleep, Raph’s wings twitching as she dreamed. She could feel the vibrations of Brian, humming as he held Ashes, who was out like a light. The Toy Soldier, standing guard over the airlock, as it had every night since the good doctor took her last spacewalk. Its presence was as reassuring as it was every night. And of course, Aurora was humming soothingly around her and Tim, her company a calming force of a completely different caliber. 

Her family was here, on the ship. They were alive, they were okay. _Nastya wasn’t alone._

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading! i would love to hear any thoughts you had on it! you can find me on tumblr or twitter @crassjellyfish if you ever feel like talking about the mechs <3


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